$ " " PRACTICE
DIRECT FROM ATSDR
Exposure Investigations Conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Karen Scruton, MS
filled at a site by recommending that other environmental agencies conduct appropri- ate sampling or, in some instances, by mod- eling exposure to the contamination. If data gaps cannot be addressed with samples col- lected by other agencies or exposure mod- eling, ATSDR will consider conducting an exposure investigation (EI). Exposure Investigations An ATSDR EI is a biological (e.g., blood, urine) and/or environmental (e.g., air, water, dust, soil, biota, etc.) sampling eort that is designed to fill a data gap needed to make a public health conclusion at a site. The follow- ing four questions are evaluated to determine if it is appropriate to conduct an EI at a site: 1. Can an exposed population be identified? 2. Does a data gap exist that aects the abil- ity to determine if there is a health hazard? 3. Can an EI be designed that will address this data gap? 4. How will the EI results aect the public health decision-making for the site? The question that is the most dicult to answer is question 4. The results of the EI sampling must be able to impact public health decisions for the site, which can be achieved in various ways: • Recommend actions to be taken by the regulatory community to reduce exposure (e.g., treating water or providing an alterna- tive water source if water is contaminated). • Indicate the need for further sampling or enhanced surveillance (e.g., measuring blood lead levels in children near a site). • Recommend a health study to be con- ducted to evaluate potential health eects associated with exposure.
Editor’s Note: As part of our continued e ort to highlight innovative approaches to improve the health and environment of communities, the Journal is pleased to publish regular columns from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. The purpose of this column is to inform readers of ATSDR’s activities and initiatives to better understand the relationship between exposure to hazardous substances in the environment, its impact on human health, and how to protect public health. This information is distributed solely for the purpose of predissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by ATSDR. The findings in this column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent any agency determination, policy, or ocial position of CDC or ATSDR. Karen Scruton is the chief of the Exposure Investigations Section in the Oce of Community Health Hazard Assessment at ATSDR.
B ackground The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) protects communities from harmful health eects related to exposure to natural and human- made contaminants in the environment. The Oce of Community Health Hazard Assess- ment within ATSDR provides this protection by working closely with the U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), tribal agen- cies, state partners of the ATSDR Partnership to Promote Localized Eorts to Reduce Envi- ronmental Exposure (APPLETREE) Cooper-
ative Agreement Program, and other partners including communities, to conduct public health assessments of hazardous waste sites. ATSDR relies on environmental data provided by other environmental agencies, including U.S. EPA and state and local agen- cies, to determine if people living near a haz- ardous waste site are being exposed to toxic substances and if that exposure is harmful. In some instances, there are not enough site data available to complete an assessment and make a public health determination, resulting in a data gap. Data gaps can be
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$3091* • 91'*6
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